QUESTIONS: The Mishnah states that when a person accepts upon himself to become a Nazir while he is in a cemetery, "Ein Olin Lo Min ha'Minyan" -- the days he spends in the cemetery do not count towards the Nezirus and he does not bring a Korban Tum'ah. If he exits and re-enters, the days do count towards his Nezirus and he must bring a Korban Tum'ah. The Gemara explains that in the second case of the Mishnah, the days count only when he exits and waits seven days, performs Haza'ah, becomes completely Tahor, and then returns to the cemetery. If he returns before he has completed his days of Taharah, the days do not count.

The Gemara asks, why does the Mishnah state that if he "exits and re-enters," the days count towards his Nezirus? What difference does it make if he returns to the cemetery? The Gemara answers that the Mishnah means that even if he returns to the cemetery, the days he was outside of the cemetery (and Tahor) still count for his Nezirus.

There are two basic questions on the Sugya. First, why does the Mishnah state that the days which the person spends in the cemetery do not count towards his Nezirus, and that if he leaves, becomes Tahor, and returns, the other days do count towards his Nezirus? The cemetery is a place of Tum'ah which is "Soser" the Nezirus, and thus any days of Nezirus observed before that Tum'ah should not count! The days he spends in the cemetery, and even the days before he returns to the cemetery, certainly cannot count towards his Nezirus! (TOSFOS 16b, DH v'Afilu Hayah)

Second, what is the Chidush of the Mishnah when it states that even if the Nazir returns to the cemetery the same day he becomes Tahor, the days still count for his Nezirus and he brings a Korban Tum'ah? Before the Mishnah teaches the Halachah of Rebbi Eliezer (which is derived from a special verse), why would one have thought that if the Nazir returns to the cemetery that day, he is considered as though he never left the cemetery (and thus he should bring only one Korban Tum'ah)?

(a) TOSFOS (16b) explains that when the Mishnah states that the days are "Oleh Lo Min ha'Minyan," it does not mean that the days before he returns to the cemetery are counted towards his Nezirus. Rather, it means that when he returns to the cemetery the day does not have the same Halachah as the day on which he made his Nezirus while in the cemetery (in which case he does not bring a Korban Tum'ah). The day is "Oleh Lo" as if he became Tamei after he began his Nezirus, and therefore he brings a Korban Tum'ah. It is only "Oleh Lo" insofar as he must bring a Korban Tum'ah.

What is the Chidush of this case of the Mishnah (where the Nazir returns to the cemetery after he had exited and became Tahor)? Tosfos explains that one might have thought that when the Nazir returns to the cemetery on the same day he becomes Tahor, since he was Tamei at the beginning of the day and he was Tamei at the end of the day (after becoming Tahor in the middle of the day), the middle "Miktzas ha'Yom" should be ignored and he should be considered as though he never observed any part of a Nezirus of Taharah. Therefore, the Mishnah teaches that he is considered as though he became Tamei after he observed a period of Taharah and thus he does bring a Korban Tum'ah for the second Tum'ah.

(b) The RAMBAM (Perush ha'Mishnayos) has an entirely different explanation of the Mishnah. The Rambam explains the Mishnah in its literal sense: when it says that the days are "Olin Lo," it means that if a person made himself a Nazir while in a cemetery, exited, and then returned, the days he spends in the cemetery after his re-entry count as days of his Nezirus.

How, though, can those days count? If he is Tamei (by going back into the cemetery) and the Tum'ah is "Soser" the Nezirus, certainly those days cannot count towards his Nezirus.

The Rambam's explanation of the Mishnah may be clarified by comparing it to his ruling in the Mishneh Torah (Hilchos Nezirus 6:10), as the LECHEM MISHNEH explains there. The Rambam (Hilchos Nezirus 7) cites the Mishnayos in Maseches Nazir (from 49a onward) which teach that a Nazir does not shave or "Soser" his Nezirus for every form of Tum'ah, but only for the Tum'ah of a Mes. The Rambam explains that the Mishnah refers only to Tum'ah which comes from the Mes itself, and not to Tum'ah which comes from the "Nefesh" of a Mes. The Rambam gives a list of the types of Tum'ah of a Mes for which a Nazir must shave and bring a Korban Tum'ah, and a list of the types of Tum'ah for which a Nazir does not shave and does not bring a Korban Tum'ah. Among the latter types of Tum'ah (for which a Nazir does not shave) are the Tum'os of Golel and Dofek, the covers (and sides) of coffins. The Rambam rules that although a Nazir does not have to shave when he becomes Tamei with such a Tum'ah, he nevertheless is prohibited to make himself Tamei with such a Tum'ah. The Lav remains in full force even though the Tum'ah is not "Soser" his Nezirus. The Rambam adds that the Tum'os for which a Nazir does not shave nevertheless do not count towards his days of Nezirus. They are like neutral days; they do not count towards his Nezirus, but they also are not "Soser" his Nezirus.

The Rambam (Hilchos Nezirus 6:9-10) clearly maintains that a cemetery is not a Tum'ah for which a Nazir must shave. Apparently, he understands that the Tum'ah of a cemetery is simply a Tum'ah of Golel and Dofek, since a person touches the cover of the graves there. (This is based on the Gemara in Berachos 20b which says that most coffins have a Tefach of space between the Mes and the cover, and therefore the Tum'ah cannot spread and make Tum'as Ohel. The only way for a person to become Tamei is by actually touching the cover of the coffin, i.e. the Golel or Dofek.) Hence, the Rambam maintains that the Tum'ah of a cemetery is a Tum'ah for which a Nazir does not shave. Although the Nazir is prohibited to go there, its Tum'ah is not "Soser" his Nezirus.

In Perush ha'Mishnayos, the Rambam seems to take a different approach. He writes that any Tum'ah for which a Nazir does not shave not only is not "Soser" the Nezirus, but it even counts towards the days of his Nezirus. Therefore, although a Nazir in a cemetery transgresses a Lav, the days he spends there do count towards his Nezirus. When he leaves he must be Metaher himself and continue counting his Nezirus, and he does not bring a Korban Tum'ah (since the Tum'ah was not "Soser" his Nezirus), and at the end of 30 days he brings the normal Korban for Nezirus Taharah.

Accordingly, the Mishnah means that if a person made himself a Nazir in a cemetery, exited, became Tahor, and re-entered the cemetery, the second period he spends in the cemetery does count towards his Nezirus. Since his Nezirus has already started, those days count as days of his Nezirus even though he is Tamei. They are not "Soser" the Nezirus, and the Tum'ah is not one for which a Nazir must shave.

When the Mishnah says that even when he returns to the cemetery the same day he left he still counts the second period towards his Nezirus, it means as follows. When he accepts upon himself Nezirus while in the cemetery, his acceptance of Nezirus is disregarded at that time and it is viewed as though it does not take effect at all. Consequently, the days in the cemetery do not count towards a Nezirus, since there is no Nezirus. Although the Tum'ah of a cemetery is not a Tum'ah for which a Nazir shaves, it is assumed that he does not really want to become a Nazir until he leaves the cemetery. His oath of Nezirus is considered to have been made at that moment he leaves the cemetery. The Mishnah is teaching that even if he returns to the cemetery that day, he remains a Nazir and it is not assumed that he did not want his Nezirus to begin yet because he still planned on returning to the cemetery that day (and therefore the Nezirus should start only after the second Tum'ah). Rather, the Nezirus begins at the moment he leaves the cemetery (the first time), since that is the first moment at which the Nezirus is fit to take effect. That moment is the beginning of the Nezirus, and when he returns later to the cemetery, he is returning during the days of his Nezirus. This is the view of the Rambam in Perush ha'Mishnayos.

(c) The RAMBAM in the Mishneh Torah has a slightly different approach. The Rambam (Hilchos Nezirus 7:7) writes that days during which the Nazir is Tamei with a Tum'ah for which he does not shave do not count as days of his Nezirus. Accordingly, the Rambam needs to give a different explanation for the Mishnah. What does the Mishnah mean when it says that when the Nazir re-enters the cemetery, "Olin Lo," the days count for him? The Rambam explains that the phrase "Olin Lo" does not refer to the days which the Nazir spends inside the cemetery the second time. Rather, "Olin Lo" means that if he returns to the cemetery, the day between the first Tum'ah and the second Tum'ah counts for his Nezirus. This is because of the Rambam's view that a Tum'ah for which a Nazir does not shave is not "Soser" the Nezirus. Since the Tum'ah of a cemetery is not a Tum'ah for which a Nazir shaves, it is not "Soser" the Nezirus. Hence, the day between the two Tum'os counts towards his Nezirus (and he brings a Korban Tum'ah if he later touches a Tum'ah that is "Soser" his Nezirus).

According to the Rambam in the Mishneh Torah, the vow of the Nazir made in the cemetery does take effect immediately. However, he cannot start counting his days of Nezirus while he is in the cemetery because days of Tum'ah do not count towards the Nezirus. Nonetheless, since his Nezirus takes effect immediately, he is not allowed to drink wine or shave while in the cemetery. (It is this point which the Rambam retracts from what he wrote in Perush ha'Mishnayos and amends in the Mishneh Torah -- whether the Nezirus takes effect while the person is in the cemetery or only after he leaves. This question seems to depend on the ways of explaining the dispute between Rebbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish in the case of a person who accepts Nezirus while in a cemetery; see Insights to 15:1.)

The Rambam, however, adds an interesting point. He writes that the Mishnah does not refer to a case in which the Nazir returns to the cemetery on the same day he became Tahor, but rather the next day. Why does the Rambam not explain that the Nazir returned on the same day, as the words of the Mishnah imply? The answer is that according to the Rambam in the Mishneh Torah, the term "Olin Lo" (when he re-enters, "the days count for his Nezirus") refers to the day he counted between the first Tum'ah and the second Tum'ah. If he returned to the cemetery on the same day, and he was Tamei at the beginning of the day and Tamei at the end of the day and Tahor for only a few hours in the middle of the day, he cannot count that day towards his Nezirus because it is not a proper "Miktzas ha'Yom." The principle of "Miktzas ha'Yom k'Kulo" applies only when he was Tahor until the end of the day (see Insights to 18:1). Therefore, the Rambam must explain that the Nazir returned to the cemetery on the following day, and thus he is able to count the previous day as the first day of his Nezirus since it is considered a full day.

According to the Rambam, the Chidush of the Mishnah is not that the first days in the cemetery do not count for the Nezirus; the Halachah that those days are not "Olin Lo" applies to days of any Tum'ah. Likewise, the Chidush is not that the day between the first Tum'ah and the second Tum'ah counts for his Nezirus, because why should it not count? The Chidush must be that although in the case of the Seifa the Nazir is "Soser" only one day when he returns to the cemetery, nevertheless he brings a Korban Tum'ah, and the sole intention of the Mishnah is to exclude the opinion of Rebbi Eliezer who rules that he must be "Soser" two days in order to bring a Korban Tum'ah. (See Tosfos to 19a, DH Lo Nichnas, who asks why the Gemara does not say that this is the Chidush of the Mishnah. According to the Rambam, this is indeed what the Gemara is teaching.)

The Rambam's approach (both in the Perush ha'Mishnayos and in the Mishneh Torah) -- that days in a cemetery are not "Soser" -- may answer a strong question which REBBI AKIVA EIGER asks earlier (17b) and leaves unanswered ("Tzarich Iyun Gadol"). The Gemara there attempts to prove that the days which a Metzora must be "closed up" ("Yemei Chaluto") should not be "Olin Lo," and it attempts to compare such a case to the case of a Nazir who became Tamei. The Gemara says that it is not possible to derive that the days of "Yemei Chaluto" of a Metzora are not "Olin Lo" from a Nazir who became Tamei because in the case of a Nazir, not only are the days not "Olin Lo" but the days are not even "Soser." The Gemara responds that the days of "Yemei Chaluto" should be derived from the case of a person who accepts Nezirus while in a cemetery, in which case the days in the cemetery are not "Olin Lo." The Gemara continues and gives a different answer. Rebbi Akiva Eiger asks that even when the person accepts Nezirus while in a cemetery, the Tum'ah of a cemetery is fit to be "Soser" his Nezirus. The only reason it is not "Soser" is that there is nothing to be "Soser"; he did not yet count any days of Nezirus. However, had he counted days of Nezirus, the Tum'ah of the cemetery certainly would have been "Soser" them! Why does the Gemara not say the same thing it says with regard to a Nazir who became Tamei: in the case of a person who accepts Nezirus in a cemetery, the Tum'ah is also able to be "Soser" his Nezirus?

According to the Rambam, there is not difficulty on the Gemara. The Tum'ah of a cemetery is not "Soser" the Nezirus because it is a Tum'ah for which a Nazir does not shave, and such a Tum'ah is not "Soser" Nezirus. Nevertheless, although they are not "Soser" the Nezirus, the days in the cemetery do not count for his Nezirus.